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The Henriade, With the Battle of Fontenoy
The Henriade With the Battle of Fontenoy Author:Voltaire Subtitle: Dissertations on Man,law of Nature,destruction of Lisbon [etc.] From the French. With Notes From All the Commentators General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1861 Original Publisher: H.W.Derby Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or miss... more »ing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: And Roman thunders never awe the brave. Go, free mankind, and break the iron chains Where Sixtus governs, or where Philip1 reigns. The cruel Philip, artful as his sire, In all that views of interest may require, Though less renown'd in war, less great and brave, Division spreads in order to enslave ; Forms in his palace each ambitious scheme, And boundless triumphs are his darling theme. " Lo ! Sixtus,2 raised from nothing to the throne, Designs no power above himself to own. Montalto's shepherd monarchs he'd o'ercome, And dictate laws in Paris, as at Rome. Safe in the honors which adorn his brow, To Philip and to all mankind a foe ; As serves his cause, or insolent, or meek, Rival of kings, and tyrant o'er the weak. Through every clime, with faction at their head, E'en to our court his dark intrigues have spread. These mighty rulers fear not to defy ; They both have dared Eliza's power to try; Witness, ye seas,3 how Philip fought in vain 1 Sixtus V, pope, had dared to excommunicate the King of France, and particularly Henry IV, then king of Navarre. Philip II, king of Spain, grand protector of the League. 3 Sixtus V, born at Grottes, in the march of Ancona, of a poor vinedresser, named Peretti, was a man whose turbulence equalled his dissimulation. While a Franciscan friar, he beat to death the nephew of his provincial, and embroiled himself with the whole order. While inquisitor at Venice he got into trouble,...« less